Help! Sick new chick!

[bbowen]

Everyone,

I have 25 barred rocks from Ideal Poultry. They hatched on 1/5/10 and I received them at 4:45 eastern time yesterday 1/7/09. All arrived ok except one. She was laying on her side in the box and the others where running all over her.

So, I took them all out and put them in the brooder and left her in the box with her own heat and water. She doesn't open her eyes and basically lays there. I got her to drink a little water and she's had normal looking stool. But her feet appear to be messed up. They don't lay flat, they are folded in half length wise which is hampering her ability to walk.

She seemed to have pepped up a bit last night but this morning she's sluggish.

Is there anything I can do?

 

[dlhunicorn]

You should dribble water with electrolytes in it along its beak... get proper poultry electrolytes from your feed store (durvet is a common brand) as this will have addition vitamins in with it.
Hopefully there is no internal damage and it will recover. If it is not eating try a bit of live culture yogurt .

 

[bbowen]

That's her. You can't really see the foot thing going on here. This was taken last night.

I have Stonyfield Farm Organic French Vanilla Fat Free Yogurt but I'm guessing that might not be a good idea. Any particular yogurt I should get?

I'll have to try and locate some electrolytes the store where I got my feed didn't have any.

 

[dlhunicorn]

oh! the chickie looks better than the mental image I had from your description. Danone live culture non-flavored or other certified live culture yogurt. Once it gets a taste for it sprinkle its crumbles on top /then to the side to encourage it to eat.
As for the feet , you need to get some Polyvisol Enfamil (not the one with the extra iron) > this is a liquid childrens A-B-D vitamin >give three drops in beak once a day for a week then taper off the next. You need to tape the toes in the correct position (place foot on strong tape and then tape over and then tightly between the toes press the two tapes together. Trim around the toes/foot so it will be less clumsy to walk around in.

 

[bbowen]

Thanks!

Is the Poly in addition to or in place of the poultry vitamin/electrolytes?

My Walgreens has the Poly w/o iron in stock.

What type of tape do you suggest? Masking, Duct, Electrical?

I really need her to make it! I can't take animals dying!!

 

[bbowen]

Ok, so I just spent the morning getting this stuff.

They didn't have straight poultry durvex but a kind that is for a bunch of different animals so I got that. I also got the yogurt, and the Poly-Vi-sol.

What order should I treat in? Also, someone suggested giving her egg yolk.

 

[Lady Catrina]

Actually, I had also heard of adding sugar to her water. When I got my babes from Ideal, I got the green stuff also to help them. If it's not too late, get an order of that - it really helps. Good luck with your little one, but also contact Ideal and let them know.

 

[bbowen]

Quote:
I contacted Ideal and lets say that their response was less than ideal.

The woman told me its probably still in shock from travel. Call us back on Monday with how many you've lost. No offer of help or ideas on what to do. I wasn't impressed.

 

[nsanywhere]

A little sugar in the water helps, and a drop or two of food coloring (blue or red) - both will encourage them to drink more water. Hydrating after all that travel is very important for the little ones!

I also will cook up an egg for them. Sounds strange, but works. Don't get fancy with the cooking, no oil or butter, just cook up some egg whites in a non-stick pan and put in in the brooder for them. The extra protein will help.

Keep her warm. I sometimes make a straw nest in part of the brooder for them to cuddle on. Dip her beak in the water to get her drinking every few hours. Don't over handle her right now - she just needs to rest up.

Also, don't worry about the feet right now. Most important is water and some nutrition to get over the travel stress.

Good luck!

 

[bbowen]

No real improvement but no great decline either. She had her eyes open for a little while this morning but not much anymore. I keep giving her vitamins, water, egg yolk every 2 hours.

She's had bowel movements that look ok. Other then that she doesn't do much.